March 13th was a day I had circled on my calendar for months. Why, you ask? Well, that was the U.S. release date of the latest album by the Electric Boys, ...And Them Boys Done Swang. The album was probably released over a year ago overseas, but there was apparently no U.S. distribution for the album at that time. I watched the album on eBay, but the prices were too high to justify the purchase, and I refuse to illegally download albums off the Internet, so I waited and waited. Finally, they announced the U.S. release date, and I for one, was thrilled.

The album is classic Electric Boys. It just has a groove to it that I love, and the band sounds as good as ever. My personal favorite is "Rollin' Down The Road" which has a great guitar riff, beefed up with some amazing horns. Just love the way it moves. Other great tunes off this one include "Welcome to the High Times," "Angel in a Armoured Suit," "Put Your Arms Around Me" and "Sometimes U Gotta Go Look For The Car." I also like how the average song is probably just about three minutes long...so they hit you hard with a groove, change it up somewhere in the middle, and then they don't overkill it and move on to the next song. Overall, the album is just put together very well.

I have listened to this album on an almost daily basis since the first day I was able to get my grubby little hands on it. The Electric Boys are one of my favorite bands from back in the day, and are also tragically underrated. While I will still holdout hope that I'll get to experience a live Electric Boys show at least one more time (though I doubt they will venture to the states again), I'm at least happy that I can still get amazing new music from these guys.

Reader Comments (12)

GREAT album! I've been fortunate enough to see them live three times promoting this disc and the shows have all been rockin' with a nice mix of the old classics and the new stuff.They've just recorded 10 songs for a new album (it'll probably be released in the States in 2016...).The three bonus tracks on the Japanese version of "And Them Boys Done Swang" are also worth checking out.They've toured a little bit in Europe (heading back to the UK in November for a third time since reforming) so who knows Brian? They might just take a trip to the States again someday.

These guys have it all and shoulda woulda coulda back in the late 80's. Though they did get some attention and play on MTV, if they had just moved to L.A. And dialed down the Funk a bit and dialed up the Hard Rock a bit more, I think they coulda given G'n'R a run for their money, or, at the very least, L.A. Guns.

They did finally get the formula right in 1994, however, with the release of "Freewheelin'", their best album, IMHO. Recorded at Abbey Road, that record contains the right blend of Rock with a little bit of Funk and not on every song. Some tracks are just straight ahead 70's tinged Hard Rock with very original, catchy songwriting and "beefier" guitars to boot, whereas before their sound was Funky Rock.

In fact, Electric Boys sound so heavily influenced by 70's Classic Hard Rock on "Freewheelin", they even recorded a more Metalized version of Ram Jam's 1977 cover of the old blues work song, "Black Betty". Hunt that version of "Freewheelin'" down on Ebay, etc., if you really wanna know what Rock'n'Roll is all about.

Unfortunately by 1994, as we know all too well, it was all over for Rock and Roll and that meant the same for Electric Boys. If only they had released this album back in '89 instead of the annoying "Funk O' Metal Carpet Ride". These guys were, instead, left to toil in virtual obscurity except amongst the faithful until finally calling it quits in 2005.

However, it's great to see they made it back a few years ago and this latest album, "Them Boys Done Swang" is easily their best since "Freewheelin'", which will forever be hard to top.

Fun Fact: When Electric Boys disbanded in 2005, 2 of the original boys went onto join the reformed Hanoi Rocks. See, I told ya they were Rock'n'Roll.

p.s. Caution: if yer gonna decide to ROCK OUT with "Freewheelin'", make sure you get the re-release of that album (same year) that has the "Black Betty" bonus track.

This truly is a great album. It's a shame that the music industry who claims to care so much about the artists, deliberately made it impossible for US citizens to legally purchase the album for almost a year.

One of the best albums of 2011 in my opinion. Just listened to it twice yesterday! Great return for a band that has always been unfairly underrated.

I got to see them in November in a small club in Barcelona with only about 50 other people. They came as a trio, the guitar player was sick back in Sweden, but even then they rocked, playing a mix of new and older songs (but not a single song off Freeweelin). Conny still looks and sounds great.

Geez, no "Mountains And Sunsets"? Maybe the memory of their best album flopping has stricken it from their memory. Or it requires having their lead guitarist on stage to pull the "Freeweelin'" stuff off. Or they've gone back to Funkytown.

Bri! Make sure you get the reissue with "Black Betty". If it's too hard to find, get the original reissue and hunt down their cover of that Ram Jam classic on the net through surreptitious means, if ya get my drift.